The North's Minister of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment, Dr Sean Farren, has launched a comprehensive review of student tuition fees aimed at increasing the number of students from underprivileged backgrounds in third-level education.
A review of student support arrangements would be one of the central tasks of the study, the Minister said at a press conference in Belfast yesterday.
"I made it very clear on my first day in office that one of the key tasks facing me and my department was to promote wider access to higher and further education, especially for those people who were previously excluded," he said.
The review's terms of reference would include tuition fees as well as loans, allowances, discretionary awards, university access funds and other financial support schemes, he added.
Yesterday's announcement was deliberately timed to precede the possible suspension of the Assembly at the end of the week, Dr Farren said. "The review, which is of great importance to local students, will be carried out regardless of whether we will revert to direct rule or not."
The review will get under way later this month in co-operation with Northern Ireland's universities, education and library boards and students' unions. The Minister hopes to publish a consultation document in early March which, once analysed and costed, is expected to lead to concrete proposals in the summer.
Dr Farren said he would consider both the benefits and disadvantages of the present system, taking into account the Scottish Executive's recent response to the Cubie report on education in Scotland.
Asked whether Northern Ireland could follow Scotland's example, where home and EU students are exempt from paying tuition fees, while students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland are not, Dr Farren said he did not wish to speculate on the review's outcome.
"The current situation in Scotland is an anomaly which needs to be addressed. But I do not intend to predict the outcomes of this review or even speculate on what options might emerge. What we need is a thorough review leading to a set of costed proposals for change that will promote wider access to higher and further education," he added.
The chairman of the Assembly's Higher and Further Education Committee, Dr Esmond Birnie, said his committee would seek to participate in the review at an early stage.